MY TEACHMEET_2012 EXPERIENCE

Teachmeet is a well organised informal meeting for teachers to share good practice, personal insights and projects in teaching with technology . So the main objective is to take all these ideas and use them in class or schools straight away.

Teachmeet London 2012 was held at BETT. As I was already attending BETT I registered online for a teachmeet ticket and also voluntereed to present my project MR. GARRIDO. Only two rules to bear in mind: presentations were meant to last no more than 7 minutes and presenters ( just volunteers) had to be chosen at random.

The Apex room at Olympia welcomed us all on Friday evening. When everybody was seated the event kicked off with a big thank you from organisers to sponsors and all attendees ( about 250) . After being delighted for a little while with some of these short presentations from mainly English, Irish or American teachers I had a stroke of luck when I was called to present . I just started my presentation by greeting the audience and thanking the organisers for enabling me to take part . Then, I talked about how to create and use a Facebook fan page as a powerful teaching and learning tool. In other words, showing and highlighting the positive use of social media by getting both parents and children involved.

It was such a rewarding experience. I met great, enthusiastic teachers presenting very creative projects using technology, friendly and proffesional organisers who chaired this formal-informal event so brilliantly and again, I found real networking beyond limits.

It happened to be my first teachmeet , but I had such a warm welcome that I’m just looking forward to the next one. .

My name is Alberto Garrido. I work as a project teacher and trainer for a BEP ( bilingual Education Project) run by the MEC ( Spanish Ministry of Education) and the British Council in Spain. I teach the English component of an integrated Spanish/English Curriculum to 3-12 year old children in a Spanish State school called CEIP ROSALES DEL CANAL. I hope that you find my posts interesting.